As part of legislative changes that came into effect last year, every community in BC needs to do bi-decade housing report.
The first one needs to be done by April of 2022, then every five years after. The District of Tumbler Ridge is ahead of that timeline, having received the report at the November 15 council meeting.
Housing Needs Assessments are a way to better understand the current and future housing needs in a community, and will help identify existing and potential gaps in housing supply by looking at demographics, economics and current stock, among other factors.
Housing features prominently in our everyday lives, says the report, prepared by Economic Pulse Analytics Ltd. “It is also an important cornerstone of our communities. A robust and affordable housing market expands opportunities and promotes choice among consumers.”
This allows people to buy bigger houses as their families expand, or smaller houses, as children leave home, as well as having space for new residents looking to move to town. It’s hard for people to come and, say, work at the mine if there is no place for them to live. “A housing market with a diversity of options facilitates a better matching of housing needs, requirements and price points, making it easier for people to find appropriate housing to suit their circumstances,” says the report. “Getting housing right, however, is no easy task. A review of housing issues in British Columbia reveals that the most common housing challenges include supply side shortages which tend to inflate real estate values, a lack of housing diversity that has favored single-family owner-occupied housing limiting options and opportunities for household mobility, inadequate or insufficient housing conditions that have fallen disproportionately on marginalized groups and communities, a scarcity of rental units which has inhibited labour force mobility and a lack of special purpose housing including senior and low-income housing among others.”
In recent years, investors have come to view real estate as a safe place to invest, which means that housing in many communities has become a speculative endeavor, which leads to inflated costs and rents. “This reduces the resources that households have available to spend on other important areas such as food, health and education. Housing in BC is thus not a standalone matter but is instead deeply embedded in many other social and economic issues.”
There is a progression of housing, from homelessness to ownership. At different stages in their life different people might need access to different housing. A young person leaving home for the first time might need access to rental housing. Once they get married, they may want a single-family home. When the kids leave, they may choose to downsize to a condo or apartment, and, as they move into old age, having a place that is subsidized, which allows them to continue to live independently might be needed.
Some people may need access to emergency shelters, something that is unavailable in Tumbler Ridge, nor is transitional housing, with only three units in town.
According to the report, there are 860 households in Tumbler Ridge, with an average of 2.3 people per household.
76 percent of those are owned by the people who live in the house, while the remaining 24 percent of units are rented.
Between now and 2028, the demand for housing is expected to grow, with the population edging up from an estimated 2186 people now to 2335 by 2028, meaning that there will need to be 93 new housing units brought on the market: 73 which will be purchased by the people living there and 23 rented.
Of course, population projections for Tumbler Ridge should be taken with a grain of salt. “Population growth (and decline) is deeply interconnected with economic growth (and decline). Given that Tumbler Ridge was developed as an instant town to support the metallurgical coal mining opportunities in the area, a considerable amount of its population base is employed by the local mines. This makes Tumbler Ridge’s population sensitive to coal production, which is significantly tied to the international coal market, with prices being largely cyclical in nature. Subsequently, Tumbler Ridge’s population has undergone significant fluctuations in the past and will likely continue to do so in the future. Current efforts are underway to diversify the communities economic base making it less sensitive to single industry change.”
There are 865 housing units in town, most of which are three and four bedroom units. Considering that the majority of the homes are owned by either a single person or a couple (66 percent), there are a large number of people in houses that exceed the needs of the residents.
Prices of homes have gone from $76,613 in 2006 to a peak of $207,654 in 2014. These days, the assessed value of homes average $101,740.
While this is quite affordable for most, there are a number of single parents who are paying more for their homes than the maximum 30 percent of total income recommended.
There are currently 210 rental units in town, or 24 percent of the total housing stock, which is slightly below the regional average of 30 percent for the Peace River Regional District. However, renters pay on average $868 to live in Tumbler Ridge, which is below the average of $1,158 elsewhere in the region. Once again, this does exceed 30 percent of the income of certain single parent households or single people living on their own.
Tumbler ridge has 34 non-market housing units: 30 units that are designated as independent social housing units, three units that are transitional supported and assisted living units, and one unit that is deemed rent assistance in private markets. There is no emergency shelter/housing for the homeless.
According to the report, 16 percent of households do not meet affordability standards, This means that 16 percent of people living in Tumbler Ridge are paying more than 30 percent of their before-tax household income into either rent or mortgage. The majority of these are renters.
Seven percent of households do not meet adequacy standards, which means they are in need of major repairs. Two percent of the population in Tumbler Ridge are living in housing that does not have enough bedrooms for the number of people living there. Again, the majority of these are renters.
There are a number of gaps in the current market. While housing in Tumbler Ridge is relatively affordable, some groups of people—seniors, young families and renters—might still have issues trying to afford living in Tumbler Ridge. The rental market especially is tight according to the report, as “larger employers [are] subsidizing the cost of rent for employees and [prices are inflated] due to absentee owners who live elsewhere but choose not to rent out their homes.”
Most of the housing in town is not appropriate for older people with mobility challenges. While these houses can be retrofitted, this is expensive and difficult for many of the houses. This makes it difficult for people to age in place.
Ultimately, the report makes eight key recommendations, which the district can use in it’s Official Community Plan (OCP).
The first is to prepare a housing strategy, based on the report. The report is analytical, providing data driven insights into the current and anticipated housing needs as well as provides statements on key areas of local housing need in the community. “The role of a housing strategy is to establish a vision and strategic direction for housing in the community,” says the report. “The District of Tumbler Ridge should assemble a housing task force to lead in the preparation of developing a housing strategy based on the priority issues identified in this report.”
Secondly, it recommends conducting a regulatory review. What are the land use policies, zoning bylaws and design guidelines. One of the key documents is the OCP, which is currently being reviewed. “This could include incentivizing certain types of development, rezoning to favour preferred land uses or by providing tax exemption to encourage certain types of development, like affordable housing. One area where the OCP can advance the findings of this report is in securing that the land use plans expand away from the current generic housing model by providing a framework for promoting a diversity of housing types across a range of lot sizes.”
Thirdly, it recommends the district develop a housing inventory. What is currently for sale? What potential is there for future construction? “The public consultation process revealed that there are many housing units that are currently not being fully utilized,” says the report. “This is seemingly due in part to large employers owning housing stock that is not currently available on the open market and absentee homeowners who live in another location but do not rent their housing unit out. An inventory or database of housing and land availability, including rental units, could be useful for exploring how to bring this underutilized supply of housing onto the open market, thus optimizing the current system.”
Fourth, it recommends the district explore partnerships with groups like Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), BC Housing, M’akola Housing Society and so on. “By forming strategic partnerships among non-profits and local developers, not only will it serve to overcome some of the housing shortfalls, but it may also create employment opportunities through local service provision.”
The fifth recommendation is to educate the community. For instance, BC Housing is supporting various housing initiatives in line with the vision document Homes for BC: A 30 Point Plan for Affordability in British Columbia. “More often than not, this information does not find its way down to the local level, meaning that the public is not aware of the support and resources available to them. There is thus a strong need for the District of Tumbler Ridge to make sure that this information is available to the public, especially the vulnerable groups identified in the Housing Needs Report (ie. lone parent households, seniors and renters, etc.).” This includes educating/ informing the public about opportunities to access resources such as rental assistance, shelter aid and home adaptation grants and helping residents navigate the process and prepare the application.
The sixth recommendation is to develop information material. According to the report, it was widely expressed that the current housing stock is not always suitable for everyone in town, especially seniors. “The District could explore the potential of preparing universal design guidelines to help secure that important consideration is given to the specific needs of its diverse population. Such information material could assist those providing home renovations to be able to adapt the existing housing stock to meet the needs of its aging population.”
The seventh recommendation is to identify subsidies and grants that could help vulnerable groups of people.
The last recommendation is for the District to create a housing support fund. Rather than depending on outside grants, the District could establish its own fund to support at risk groups. “A housing support fund can act as a multipurpose fund that can help the District support its housing goals by providing financial support to key areas such as rental assistance for low-income groups (ie. rental subsidies), grants for housing renovations to adapt housing to overcome mobility challenges and meet the needs of its residents (ie. compensate up to 25 percent) and so on. Such a fund could be financed through support from the federal and provincial government as well as through the sale of municipal land. This could be an important program for securing that residents can age in place.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
